Enhancing Material Development and Manufacturing Technologies of Lightweight Alloys and Tribological Performances for Unmanned Aerial Systems

The proposed project aims to address the Army’s requirement—as part of its Future Verti-cal Lift (FVL) modernization priority—for creating Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) propulsion systems with improved performance, which depends on advancements in materials and processes related to component weight and thermal management. Northwestern is well-positioned to work with the Army on this groundbreaking focus area due to its long-established excellence in material design, tribology and catalysis, manufacturing, and computational mechanics. To meet the above-mentioned needs, following the mission of Army Manufacturing Technology on providing affordable and timely manufacturing solutions that ad-dress the highest priority needs of the Army, this team aims to develop materials, manufacturing, and human capital capabilities, for technologies that can be used in the Army’s complex operating environments. Specifically, we plan two major thrusts: Thrust 1 - Materials and tribological solu-tions for engine fuel systems, and Thrust 2 - Developments of High-performance, High-temperature Casted or Additive Manufactured (AM-ed) Aluminum Alloys and Additive Manufac-turing Processes. Additionally, we are going to work with several companies in technology trans-fer and prototyping of materials and its manufacturing processes.